Wall panel



March 31, 1942. LL

WALL PANEL Filed April 8, 1959 Patented Mar. 31, 1942 WALL PANEL Frederick M. Small, York, Pa., assignor to Martin- Parry Corporation, York, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application April 8, 1939, Serial No. 266,889

5 Claims.

This invention relates to wall panels, and more particularly to panels formed essentially of thin sheet metal and capable of being used for wall coverings, cabinet structures and, in general, for purposes where wood or fibre panels have been employed.

It is an object of the invention to provide a panel fabricated of thin sheet metal WhlCh is rigid and'has high mechanical strength.

Another object is ,to' provide a metal panel which has heat and sound insulating properties.

A further object of the invention is to provide a panel including a plurality of sheet metal members formed and secured togetherso as to make the panel relatively rigid in all directions.

A still further object of the invention resides in the provision of a metal panel having portions along the edges thereof by which the panel may be attached to a supporting structure to conceal the attaching devices.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the attached drawing, of which:

Figure 1 is an end view of. an envelope or covering member for a panel;

Figure 2 is a perspective view, partly in longitudinal section, of a complete panel;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary end view of a panel showing an edge portion and attaching means;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view of a side edge of a corrugated filler structure;

Figure 5 is a similar view of a modified form of filler structure;

Figure 6 is a similar view of a further modified form of filler structure; and

Figure 7 is a similar view of a still further modified form of filler structure.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the panel illustrated includes a sheet metal covering member I0, a sheet metal filler or backing structure II and sound deadening material I! positioned between the covering member ID and the filler structure I l.

A preferred form of the sheet metal filler structure H is shown in Figures 2 and 4. lhe portions of this structure lying in planes at an angle to the general plane of the panel render the panel capable of resisting bending along lines running longitudinally thereof. Other forms of filler structures may be employed but for a given amount of metal the form shown, with corrugations positioned parallel to the ends of the panel, has been found to give greater rigidity and support for the envelope It). The structure I I has 55 no substantial resistance to bending along a line parallel to the corrugations or along lines transversely of the panel but the conformation of the edges of the envelope or covering member I ll provides for rigidity transversely of the panel.

The envelope I0 is provided with edge portions l3 which extend laterally beyond the filler member II as shown in Figures 2 and 3. Each edge portion l3 has aninclined portion it which, when abutted against an adjacent panel or finishing strip, provides a pleasing panel eifect. The edge portion l3 includes a reentrant portion I 5 providing' a recess l5 which may be employed to secure the panel to a supporting structure and also includes a flange I6 adapted to be interlocked with a supplemental stiffening and attaching member I! as shown in Figures 2 and 3. It will, be noted that portions of the edge of the panel are in planes at an angle to the plane of the main portion of the envelope I0 in order to reinforce the panel against longitudinal bending. The supplementalstiflening and attaching member ll includes a reentrant portion l8 providing a longitudinal extending recess 20' adapted to resiliently receive a lug or strip l9 carried by an attaching plate 20 which may be secured to a wall member in order to fasten the panel to the wall. The member." may also include a corrugated or resilient portion 2| adapted to be positioned against a wall member indicated at 22 in order to form a heat and sound seal with the wall. The member I! is also provided with a portion 23 which receives the edge portionof the filler structure II. The portions of the member I! extending normally to the general plane=of the panel including the corrugations of the'portion 2| additionally provide for longitudinal stillness of the panel. It is apparent that the supplemental stiffening member I! may be made integral with the envelope I 0 without departing from the invention, although the interlocked structure shown provides for ease of fabrication.

Also, if'other means are employed to attach the.

panel to the wall, the reentrant portion l8 may be omitted as may also the corrugated portion 2| if a heat and sound seal is not required. The recess l5 provided by the reentrant portion I 5 may be employed with suitable fastening means to secure the panel to a wall structure in case the attaching lug I9 can not be employed in a particular application. In any case, the edge portions of the envelope are provided with means for fastening the same to the edges of the metal filler structure and with longitudinal stifiening portions.

The sound deadening material l2 positioned between the envelope I and the metal filler structure ll prevents metallic contact between the main portion of the envelope Ill and the filler structure H and has sound absorbing and insulating properties. portion 23 spaces the filler structure from the sound deadening material l2 or, if the latter is not used, then from the cover member ID to provide restricted passageways 9 intercommunicating the pockets formed by the filler corrugations and the external air. The sound deadening material i2 is preferably formed of sheet asbestos so as to also be fire resistant, but other fibrous materials and also plastic materials such as asphalt or other mastic may be employed. The sound deadening material-is not necessarily continuous but may be strips of fibrous sheet material or strips of plastic material applied to either the cover member ID or the filler structure ll so as to prevent metallic contact therebetween by spacing the filler structure from the cover member. Merely applying plastic material or mastic to the portions of the filler structure which are adjacent the cover member and which would normally be in contact therewith provides for efiective sound insulation. Even when, the sound deadening material is omitted, panels in accordance with the present invention have excellent and unexpected sound insulating and absorbing properties. This is believed to be due to the small area of actual metal-to-metal contact between the cover member and filler structure, thus limiting the direct conduction of sound through the metal; to the diffusion of sound by the refleeting surfaces of the metallic filler structureand to the structure of the panel which in effect provides two diaphragms having' air pockets therebetween communicating with each other and the external air through restricted passageways 9, which diaphragms are held together at their edges and have different sound response characteristics so that sound energy imparted to one of the diaphragms is largely absorbed by air movements between the diaphragms. Applicant is not, however, to be held to any precise theory of operation,

As shown in Figure l, the envelope l0 may be given a transverse curvature before assembling with the filler members and stiffening member I! so that the envelope will be pressed tightly against the filler members 12 and II. The employment of an envelope which is normally fiat is, however, contemplated by the present invention.

In order to provide for improved heat insulation, the corrugated filler member ll may have a coating of aluminum or other metal paint on one or both surfaces thereof. The irregular reflecting surface and decreased radiation from this surface retards the conduction of heat through the panel. The panel also has excellent fire resistant properties. When properly attached to wall members, the panel resists buckling. For

The interposed lip of the the general plane of the panel. An alternative form 26 is shown in Figure 5, in which a sheet of metal is formed to provide a substantially fiat outer surface with projecting ridges 26 providing for reduced metal-to-metal contact with the envelope ill, in case no sound deadening material is employed. In fact, a filler structure such as that shown at 21 in Figure 6, with simple corrugations, is usable in certain cases even though not as satisfactorily as the,structure of Figure 4. Furthermore, the filler structure is not necessarily continuous, but may be formed of a series of separate members such as the members 28 of Figure 7. Any of the forms shown in Figures 4 to 6, as well as other forms, may be divided into separate members and held in spaced relation in the channels provided by the clamping portions 23 of the'edge members of Figure 2, either by friction or by spacing members.

The panel construction above described results in an extremely rigid member even when fabricated of thin and relatively flexible metal such as, for example, #26 gauge sheet iron. Panels as thin as approximately inch in thickness through the main portion thereof and spanning areas, for example, 28 inches wide, have been found satisfactory. In such a panel, the thickness of the metal filler structure may be approximately A, inch and the thickness through the edge portions including the stiffening portions may be approximately inch. Thus, the entire panel may have a very small weight per unit area and the dimensions above given are listed solely by way of example for the purpose of indicating how small the thickness may be even for panels of large area for covering extended wall surfaces. The thin sheet metal used enables the panel to be'sawed and worked in a manner similar to wood or fibrous materials. Also, the fiat exterior surface of the panel is susceptible to being decorated in substantially any manner desired and responds to decoration treatment more readily than fibre panels.

While I have described a preferred embodiment, it is understood that my invention is not to be limited except by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A panel comprising a sheet metal filler member provided with transversely extending corrugations to stiffen the panel against bending along lines longitudinally of the panel, a smooth sheet metal cover member extending laterally beyond said filler member, the lateral edge portions of said cover member being formed out of the plane of said cover member to stiffen the latter against bending along lines transversely of the panel, and a longitudinally extending attaching member secured to said cover member and said filler member for fastening said cover member to said filler member.

2. A panel comprising a sheet metal filler member provided with transversely extending corrugations to stiffen the panel against bending along lines longitudinally of the panel, a smooth sheet metal cover member extending laterally beyond said backing member, the lateral edge portions of said cover member being formed out of the plane of said cover member to stifien the latter against bending along hues transversely of the panel and a longitudinally extending attaching member secured to said cover member and said filler memberfor fastening said cover member to said filler member, said attaching member being provided with a longitudinally extendingchannel for receiving another attaching' member for attaching said panel to a wall.

3. A panel comprising a sheet metal filler mem-,

ber provided with transversely extending corrugations to stiffen said panel against bending along lines longitudinally of the panel, and a sheet metal cover member for said filler'member having edge portions thereof bent out of the plane of said cover member to stifien said panel against bending along lines transversely of the panel, one of said edge portions being provided with longitudinally extending corrugations adapted to engage a wall member to provide a heat and sound seal.

4. A sound insulating and absorbing panel for 1- building construction comprising, a sheetmetal filler member and a sheet metal cover member attached at its edges to said filler member, said filler member being formed with corrugations to attached at its edges to said filler member, sound I deadening material secured to the inner face of said cover member, said filler member being 1 formed with corrugations to provide a series of air pockets between said filler and cover members, and means spacing the adjacent corrugated portions-from the sound deadening material car ried by said cover member to provide a. restricted passageway interconnecting said pockets and the external air.

\ FREDERICK M. SMALL. 

